Dared to Love (The Billionaire Parker Brothers Book 3) Read online

  Dared to Love

  The Billionaire Parker Brothers

  Book 3

  Kayla C. Oliver

  Let’s get to know each other…

  WARNING:

  This book contains sexually explicit content and adult language. It may be considered offensive to some readers. This book is for sale to adults only. Please ensure this book is stored in a location that cannot be accessed by underage readers.

  Copyright © 2017 by Kayla C. Oliver

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Other books by Kayla C. Oliver

  The Billionaire’s Secrets Series

  Touch Me

  Kiss Me

  Thrill Me

  Tease Me

  Love Me

  Taming the Billionaire Series

  The Art of Lust

  The Art of Love

  The Art of Temptation

  The Billionaire Parker Brothers Series

  Temptation

  Fake True Love

  Love in Lust

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Epilogue

  Touch Me (The Billionaire’s Secrets Book 1 – Preview)

  Signing Him (Bonus book)

  Rewriting Romance (Bonus Book)

  Virgin’s Desire (Bonus book)

  Exclusive Book For You

  Contact Page

  Exclusive Book For You

  Get your exclusive and free copy of Temptation!

  She had the opportunity of a lifetime right at her fingertips, but the passion she found in his arms could destroy it all.

  Happy reading!

  Kayla C. Oliver

  Chapter One

  Blake

  “And surprise, surprise, no Hawk.” Blake Parker scoffed as he walked into the conference room, seeing that one of his two brothers was missing. Cole sat where he usually did, by a window, in his favorite leather chair, looking bored as always.

  Like everything else at Parker Industries, the room was well-appointed, its furnishings all top of the line and cutting edge in technology. LED lights gleamed off a combination of polished steel and hardwood. The only thing that didn’t really suit the room was the industrial-looking carpet, and one of these days soon, Blake was going to option ideas for something equally functional, but less drab. Style was important in the property business.

  Cole’s eyebrows rose sardonically. “What did you expect? He’s only been back from his honeymoon for almost a month—surely you can’t expect him to be back at work already?”

  Blake laughed, taking a seat in his own chair at the long conference table.

  Hawk, the youngest of his brothers, had recently married Kathryn Wellington, the daughter of one of their largest business rivals in New York. After his brothers had okay the merger, bailed him out of the scandal he was embroiled in, and helped him win the affections of Kathryn, Hawk had sworn he would help out more in the company, only to disappear once they were married.

  “Have you heard from him?” Blake asked, checking his phone as it vibrated and making a mental note to call the client back in a few minutes.

  Cole smirked. “Minimally. The guy’s still so high on love that conversing with him is like talking to a helium balloon. All high-pitched and giddy. We probably can’t count on him too much. Not till he and his blushing bride have their first big fight, at any rate, and he needs a distraction.”

  Blake wasn’t surprised, just disappointed. Parker Industries was their father’s business, and he had spent his entire life preparing for the moment he would be able to call it his own. But when his father had passed away, he had left it not only to Blake, but to his two brothers as well—on the condition that all three of them would be able to handle it.

  But as they neared the sixth month of trying to maintain the company as a team, time and time again, Blake had been the only one who held the place together. He’d promised both brothers they could have their cut and leave after the year, but only on the condition that they made it that long. If they failed, Berkshire, their only rival company, would buy them out.

  Blake’s worst nightmare.

  In spite of the recent merger with Wellington, the company was still struggling, largely due to the fraud it had fallen prey to a couple of months prior. Blake and Cole had sent Hawk to Las Vegas to oversee the construction of a hotel. When he hadn’t been fucking Kathryn in the hot tub, he’d managed to discover they were being robbed of thousands of dollars.

  Although they had gotten the issue sorted out, Parker Industries was still reeling from the major financial hit. Of course, it had caused Blake to question all the other investments they had made and he had diligently begun verifying their status. The only problem was that the best way to make sure they were truly getting their money’s worth was to check out each and every site personally.

  He and Cole had been taking turns flying to their various properties in development around the country, but with Cole’s extra responsibility to Dana, his relatively new wife, Blake often picked up the extra trips. Nevertheless, they were both worn out—and disappointed Hawk wasn’t doing more at the office while they were gone.

  “So, do you want to take the flight out tomorrow morning?” Blake asked, crossing his fingers under the table.

  “Where’s it headed?” Cole asked, doing a lazy back-and-forth spin of the chair.

  “Element Island,” Blake said casually, and it was Cole’s turn to laugh.

  “Pleasure Island, you mean! What’ve we got going on down there?”

  Blake pulled out the file and slid it across the table. Cole looked it over and shook his head at the impressive property stats. The so-called island was really a resort made of reclaimed land off the coast of Myrtle Beach. A billionaire developer had sunk a lot of money into it some 20 years back, then had gotten bored and more or less abandoned it so it eventually organically morphed into its own small community, isolated enough from the mainland that a particular nightclub culture had developed. A culture that eventually attracted hoteliers from all over
, gradually turning Element Island into a mini Vegas of the East Coast.

  “You know,” Cole commented, eyeing the glossy photographs of lush beaches, palm trees, and brand-new high rises, “If we do get this hotel up and running, it’s going to be a valuable asset.”

  “I know. Which is why I want to get it going, but I don’t trust anyone after what happened down in Las Vegas,” Blake responded.

  Cole nodded. “We could always send Hawk again. That worked out so well last time.”

  “No, Hawk’s staying here,” Blake replied slightly wearily, “and that is the end of that. Do you have any idea what kind of shit is going to be brought down on this company if he manages to get caught up in another scandal? Especially with Kathryn—and her father—in the picture now. The last thing we need is more bad publicity.” Blake sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

  Cole cracked his knuckles. “You’re right. Fine. I’ll tell Dana that I’ve got another trip tonight, and I’ll head out first thing in the morning. It should go smoothly—at least, it better.” Clearly considering the conversation done, he started for the door, his long-legged stride carrying him there quickly.

  “Thanks,” Blake called after him, doing a silent fist pump of elation. That was one trip he wouldn’t have to take, at least. He waited for a moment after the door had closed, thinking about all the things they still had to do. There were still numerous hotels around the country they were going to have to check before he could rest easy, and still a ton of paperwork to handle before tax season showed up once more.

  There were so many things to do, he was overwhelmed. Keeping so many different spinning plates in the air required a divided focus, which Blake disliked. He preferred to get one task fully accomplished, delivering a quality project, before moving on to the next. This whole hotel scandal was just taking too much time from everything else. He had to get things sorted out, and quickly. He rubbed his eyes and thought about his father.

  Somehow, no matter how bad things sometimes had gotten, the man had always been able to take care of everything—all the while raising Blake and his three siblings. If his father could do it singlehandedly, so could he, he’d long ago decided, and he would, no matter the obstacles that presented themselves in his path.

  Even if his head seemed to constantly throb lately, he was going to push through this and get it done. Cole going to Element Island took a lot of pressure off his shoulders. He trusted his brother to take care of things properly, which would give him the chance to catch up on things back at the office.

  “Just give it a couple more weeks, and things are going to get a lot easier,” Blake muttered as he walked into his own office, took a seat behind his immaculately organized desk, and signed into his computer. He drew in a deep breath before letting it out again slowly, trying to decide where to begin his work day. It was only Monday, and he could see that his schedule was completely booked out until Thursday.

  He clicked on a file and narrowed his eyes, beginning to meticulously scan the document in front of him and already seeing discrepancies that would need to be addressed.

  It was going to be a very long day.

  ***

  The microwave beeped, and Blake pulled out the leftover Chinese he had heated. He dumped the contents of the takeout box on a plate. Then, stifling a sigh, he carried his plate to the dinner table and pushed aside the stack of papers left there during the previous night’s dinner.

  Sinking down, he dug into the lukewarm noodles, trying not to notice the total silence in his beautiful home. He’d decorated it himself, with artwork from all the many countries he’d been to, but for what, he didn’t know. Not like he had anyone to share it with.

  Blake swallowed down a mouthful of noodles along with a nudge of bitterness. He wasn’t a bad guy. In fact, he might have been the nicest of the three Parker brothers. So why couldn’t he find someone? Rerouting his thoughts from their brief foray into self-pity, he finished eating quickly and rinsed his dishes off as he thought about his packed schedule.

  His phone chimed on the table and he walked over, seeing that Kathryn had texted him.

  You looked a little down today. Is everything going all right?

  It was nice to have someone notice the stress he was under, but Blake really didn’t want to go into it. He was happy that his brother was finally settled and that Hawk had unearthed the scandal before it destroyed Parker Industries. However, the fallout had still been only slightly short of radioactive.

  He texted back, Fine, just tired. Thanks.

  Scarcely had he sent the text when the phone chimed once more. This time it was Cole.

  Guess who’s going to be an uncle! Dana just told me the news!!!! I don’t think I’m going to be making that flight in the morning after all!

  Blake sat there staring at the phone for a long moment, stunned. Both brothers married, and now one on the way to being a dad.

  That’s crazy. Congratulations! He texted Cole, meaning it, while at the same time newly exhausted. Now he would have to take the business trip in the morning.

  So he would need to pack. But first, he called his brother, because how often did he get to hear he was going to be an uncle for the very first time? Business was important, but there was still nothing more central to Blake than his family.

  Chapter Two

  Kelly

  Her cellphone alarm went off yet again and Kelly Cullen sighed, dismissing it with a swipe and then throwing her blanket off the bed, pulling herself upright. She had been awake since two and had tossed and turned so much since then, she wondered why she hadn’t just gotten up and started her day.

  Leaning back against the headrest for a moment, she yawned and stretched before getting up. She padded over to the curtains of her small home, inherited from her mother after she’d died in an accident, one Kelly chose never to think about, and shoved the heavy fabric aside. Light streamed in, so bright she cringed briefly before adjusting to the powerful rays. They poured into her home and simultaneously reflected off the dazzling white sands of the nearby beach, one of the perks of life on Element Island.

  Her phone buzzed and Kelly picked it up without looking, knowing already who it would be. “Hey.”

  Miska, her coworker at the Andrade Hotel, was always just a shade too cheerful. “Morning, sunshine.”

  “I hate that nickname,” Kelly muttered. “It’s stupid. Might as well be moonlight.”

  “Okay. Morning, moonlight,” Miska said easily. “How are you doing?”

  Kelly sighed. Miska was one of the few people who knew about how stuck she felt. She wasn’t one to complain, but life on Element Island had begun to feel increasingly stagnant.

  “I can’t keep doing this day after day, year after year.”

  She walked over to the closet and began selecting two outfits for the day. One was her usual drab hotel uniform, in khaki from head to toe—khaki, for God’s sake!—the other, her evening outfit for that night’s shift.

  “So don’t,” Miska said simply. “You’ve saved up some money by now. You should be close to escape, right?”

  “Escape to where?” Kelly asked, choosing a simple but elegant cream dress that would cling in all the right places, but not cross the line between slutty and sexy. Society might have a misguided impression about her work, but she herself made the distinction very clear from the first minute she met a client. “My entire skillset involves maid duties and ‘fascinating conversation.’”

  “You’re more than a maid and a paid companion, Kelly. You could go to college after all, maybe on a dance scholarship. Or see about selling some of your paintings. Even look at journalism, like you once were interested in …”

  While Miska rambled, Kelly walked around putting her evening bag together. Companion. She hated the word more than she could begin to explain to people. It was nicer than the alternative word, but still conveyed all the wrong impressions. Yes, after her mother had unexpectedly died when Kelly was just 17, she’d found a way to make
ends meet, a way that snooty noses often frowned upon. But all she did was spend evenings with gentlemen at restaurants or bars. There was no—categorically no—touching involved, and very definitely no sex.

  “Kelly …” Miska singsonged, and Kelly tuned back in.

  “Huh?”

  “I was asking whether you want an extra few shifts this week. My aunt is in town, remember?”

  She started the water running and peeled off her comfortable old T-shirt, the only thing she ever slept in. It was endlessly comfortable, decidedly unsexy, and Kelly loved the shirt all the more for it. She heard sexy so much at both her jobs—whether it was hotel clients trying to pinch her ass as she walked by with an armful of bed linens, or an evening client who didn’t quite understand her terms of service until she put him in his place—that she’d come to hate the word.

  “Sure,” Kelly agreed, catching a glimpse of her toned, tanned naked body as she walked from the bathroom back to the hallway to find a clean towel. “Just text me when and I’ll be there.”

  Miska chattered on for a few more minutes before Kelly ended the call and got into the shower, enjoying some of the only quiet minutes of her day. All too soon, she rinsed off, dried off, and put on the hideous khaki slacks and matching blouse. As always, she vowed to herself that someday she would find a job that would require her to use her brain more than her witty repartee, and one that would allow her to wear something that didn’t look like a camel’s backside.

  She combed out her long, thick black hair and then tucked it into a low bun right at the base of her neck. At twenty to nine, she walked out the door, dress bag in one hand, gym bag in the other neatly packed with heels, jewelry, and makeup.

  ***

  There was no real point to owning a car on Element Island, not unless you were coming from the airport and/or wanted to explore the outer reaches of the island, so residents walked almost everywhere. As she turned onto the mile-long footpath that led to the Andrade Hotel, a path bordered by foliage that was intended to look Hawaiian—lush hibiscus, fragrant plumeria, and exotic Bird of Paradise—she brushed past tourists milling around, already with tall, fruity drinks in their hands. As always, Kelly wondered where they were from and how long they were going to stay.